Tucker's last night in Salt Lake before heading home.

Tucker arranged with Annie to go out to her house Thursday evening.  His plane didn't leave until after 10:00 so he had some time to kill from 5:00 when he finished with his training.  Neal and I picked up Jeff from work and Tucker from the hotel (both about 3 blocks apart) and headed out to
Stansbury.  Annie had a delicious dinner waiting for us and then we played a couple games before it was time for us to get Tucker to the airport.  I also had Tucker's birthday presents to give him.  It was a fun evening and as always, sad to say goodbye.  Knowing that they are coming in two weeks for Thanksgiving made it a bit easier.  Tucker got a new Utah shirt and a miniature football helmet.

The traditional group selfie!

Hayley's birthday dinner

Sunday, November 1st was Hayley's 13th birthday.  Annie invited Neal and I out for dinner.  Neal had a meeting at the temple so I picked him up there at 5:30 and we headed out to Stansbury.  It was a nice evening.  Hayley requested fried chicken for dinner and Pizza cookie for her birthday cake.  Emmi came home from the Y for the festivities.  Happy birthday Hayley.

 Not sure what Annie is doing here but I think Andrew had some Lego pieces and wanted his mother to create something out of them that he had already figured out and took apart.  As I remember, she did create something but it wasn't what Andrew had in mind.  Andrew has become quite the Lego specialist.

Tucker comes to town for his new job training.

Tucker came into town on Sunday evening late.  He is staying at the Holiday Inn downtown.  We arranged to meet with him Monday night and have dinner.  We ended up at Market Street Oyster Bar and had a delicious dinner and a wonderful visit.  It was nice to hear how his training is going and how he feels about his new job.

 Tucker's new business cards.  Sorry they are sideways.  Still haven't figured out to turn things once they are on the blog.  Where are my computer wizards when I need them?

After dinner we went to Office Depot so Tucker could get a notebook and from there back to the hotel to drop Tucker off.  What a fun evening.  Love having Tucker in town.

More Halloween costumes

Here are a few more pictures that have come in to me from Halloween.  Jamie, Tucker and the girls.  My gosh!  Even in a wig Jamie takes a great picture.

Some pictures from the Culters

And one of Andrew.  Can you guess who Andrew is?

The New Church Museum

Neal and I went downtown to see the new church museum and it was an incredible experience.  If any of you have a chance to go through the museum, take advantage of it.  Be sure that you watch the 7 minute video of the First Vision.  Before you go in to the little theater there is a display of the 9 different writings for the First Vision.  Each one written a little different but all the basic facts of Joseph Smith's experience are in every one of them.  I totally understand how each one can be a little different.  So often I have heard something in General Conference and written down immediately what I heard, then when the talk comes out and I compare what I wrote to what was said, I find words left out and added.  Just in that short time of hearing it and then writing down from memory there are always a few changes of sentence and words.  I just have to say that if there were 25 different versions it doesn't made me question my total testimony and knowledge that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and He did restore it through Joseph Smith.  The film of the first vision makes you feel like you are right there in the sacred grove.  It is amazing.

This is a plaque that I read that I thought was very interesting.  How proud I am to be a member of this the only True and worldwide church.

Halloween has come and gone for another year!

Here are some of the pictures of the Goss family in their costumes for Halloween. I didn't get any pictures from the rest of the kids to post.  If I get some, I will post them.

Dave's Barbecued Ribs

Neal and I were in such a hurry to get out to Jaden's game the other night that we didn't take time to eat.  His game started at 5:00 and that is right during the horrible rush hour traffic.  So after the game we decided to stop and get a bite to eat.  Neither one of us had ever eaten at Dave's but had heard a lot of positives about it.  The dinner was delicious.  We ordered a dinner for one and shared it.  How anyone could possible eat this by themselves is beyond me.  It was a lot of food for just one person. I would totally recommend it and would go back there again.

Fall is in the air.

I had to chuckle when I went out to the garage to put some garbage in the garbage can.  I noticed Neal's car and just had to take a picture.  He had just driven in from school and looking at his car you can tell that the leaves are falling from the trees and telling us that Winter is just around the corner.

Jaden made the news!

Last Friday night Neal and I drove out to Herriman High School to watch Jaden play football and to see Taylor perform at half time.  Both events were amazing and very exciting.  It is always fun to see your grandchildren perform and excel in what they are most interested in.  Taylor took this picture of the three of us.  She always comes up to the stands after she performs and then is off to hang out with her friends.  (Annie, do you recognize the coat that I have on?)

Just before half time, Jaden was on the field with the kick off team.  Herriman kicked the ball to Brighton, Brighton fumbled and Jaden saw the ball spurt out of the middle of the pile of Brighton and Herriman players.  He scooped up the football and ran it in for a touchdown.  A very exciting moment for parents and grandparents and the whole studentbody.  Here is a clip of the article written about the game and Jaden.  Our grandson is a celebrity!

My very favorite counted cross stitched framed and hanging in a place of honor.

This has to be one of the hardest projects I've done.  I was happy to take the last stitch in it, send it to the cleaners and then give it to Neal to have it framed.  He brought it home a few days ago and I nearly cried.  It is beautiful and I love it.  Thanks Neal for your expertise in picking out just the perfect matting and frame.  If you want to see it in full color and close up you will have to come to the house for a visit.  I'm so proud of this work of art.

Sunday Fall evening

I don't think there is anything that can make Neal's evening much better than a freshly baked batch of cookies.  I usually bake him chocolate chip cookies one night a week when he is teaching a night class.  I like to have him walk in the door at 10:00 p.m. and be greeted by the smell of freshly baked cookies, just warm and out of the oven.  He hasn't had a night class this semester and so I haven't made him any, plus, we have had some warm weather that the thoughts of turning on the oven and adding more heat to an already warm house just didn't sound appealing.  However, this particular Sunday weather had turned cold and very Fall feeling.  Neal was upstairs working on his school papers and so I decided to surprise him.  The cookies turned out delicious and I had a very happy husband!  It never hurts to pamper those you love!

Mallory and the Peanuts Gang

Anyone who knows the family knows (or should be aware) that Mallory loves Snoopy and the Peanuts gang.  Annie sent me these two pictures of the costume she made for Mallory for a school event.
Pretty clever Annie!

Then this past weekend Neal and I went to see the movie The Intern (great movie and I would totally recommend it to everyone).  We got to the theater a few minutes early so wandered around and found this ad for the new Peanuts movie that is coming out.  I just had to snap a picture of Pa with the gang and send it to Mallory.  Which Peanuts character does he look like?  Maybe the guy on the back left or Linus?  I don't know, you'll have to decide.

Last of the Fall berries

I wasn't going to do anymore jam but saw that Costco had beautiful strawberries and raspberries so I bought a flat of each and came home and spent an evening last week making batches of strawberry and raspberry jam.  I also made one batch of each that were less sugar for Ron Stanfield.

 I smiled as I pulled out all the bowls, wooden spoons. measuring bowls and cups, measuring spoons,  The last item out of the cupboard was my food processor.  This little piece of equipment was bought over 35 years ago at a home fair at the Salt Palace.  This has to be one of the best purchases I ever made.  This processor is used more than any other appliance in my kitchen.  I just love it!

I've used this KitchenAid processor over the years to chop, slice, shred, mash, mince and gently crumble up just about every food item you can think of.  I also love my big silver bowl and Tupperware bowls!

When I was done I had bottled about 56 pints and half pints of both kinds of jam.  I figured it costs me about $200.00 and I'm sure you could buy a lot more jam that I made for that amount of money but I don't think there is a store bought processed jam that taste nearly as good as my home made.  I will probably keep right on making it and sharing it with neighbors and family who ask.  Every time C.J. and Justin roll into town they always ask for some of my Gam's Jam as they so fondly refer to it.

Our trip to Scofield

Ron and Judy invited us to Scofield for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We were excited to go and opted to come home Saturday night.  I had obligations on Sunday, as did Neal, plus the choir is pretty slim and counts on Neal and I to help.  We are the few in number who can actually read the notes.  Also, Annie was teaching her RS lesson today and I wanted to hear her lesson.  We left Thursday morning stopping at the golf course for Neal and Ron to play 18 holes of golf while Judy and I went on to the cabin.  Neal hurt his shoulder and couldn't play golf the rest of the week.  Ron thought he was having some issues with his breathing (he's had a heart attack) so neither one of them wanted to push things.  We spent Thursday evening just relaxing and playing bridge.

Friday morning we got up, played some bridge and then decided to go for a ride to see some of the history of Scofield.  We came to a road that would take us up to what was called Winter Quarters.  This was a part of Scofield that housed one of the working mines back in the late 1800's and early 1900s. On May 1, 1900 there was a mine explosion killing 200 men and boys.  Leaving 175 widows and 265 children without fathers.  If you are interested you should go to the internet and read about the disaster.  Of course, the mine was permanently closed and this area of Scofield became a ghost town.

We could see the old hotel (what's left of it) way up this dirt road.  Judy had always wanted to go up there so we drove part way and came to an area that is usually gate locked.  But because of the deer hunt the gate was open and so we proceeded to drive further up the road.  We past some hunters on 4 wheelers coming down and they said the gate would not be lock and that we could drive up to the next locked gate and then walk from there to the hotel.

What an incredible outing we had.  We walked through the "No Trespassing" signs climbing through the fence and on up the road about a mile.  These are some of the pictures I took.  The first one is Neal and Judy walking just ahead.  The second one of totally an optical allusion.  It looks as if the hotel if leaning forward and the trees are growing out of the roof.  But as you look at the close up pictures you will see it is exactly opposite!

 The picture below shows you that what appeared to be the front wall is actually the back wall!  We were all surprised when we got up there.  There are only two walls left standing.

 This picture below is looking down on the hotel.

 I hiked up the road further than the rest to discover this left over building.  I have no idea what it was used for.  But, I thought it was very interesting and apparently was part of the buildings of Winter Quarters.

A few more pictures as we were walking back down to the car.

 Neal loved the tree below because it looked like a Quacking Aspen trunk was the trunk of a pine tree!

This is the fence we climbed through ignoring the No trespassing sign.  We just hoped we would't get caught and thank goodness we didn't.  The walk up the road was so worth to see all we saw.

Saturday we just took it easy at the cabin.  We cleaned and help Ron and Judy get some things done to winterize the cabin.  They will have to make one more trip down Halloween weekend to drain the pipes and officially close it for the winter months.  Judy and Ron have said that they would love to have me bring some of the family down next summer.  We will have to plan something.

Mallory is a Peanuts character

Mallory and Abby found a site on the internet where you can create yourself as a Peanuts character.  Mallory sent me this one and I have to admit that it looks a lot like her.  Of course, she is much prettier!

I have to admit, Mallory, you are pretty dang cute as a Peanuts character!

Mallory's 17th birthday

Neal and I were invited out to Jeff and Annie's for Mallory's 17th birthday dinner and celebration,  We had a delicious dinner of Mallory's choice.  It was French Dip with tator tots and for dessert we had (again Mallory's request) Annie's famous pizza cookie cake.  The dinner was delicious and the games after very fun.

Happy birthday Mal Sue!  We love you, Gam and Pa.
I also took a picture of Mallory's school jacket.  She is president of a club which I can remember the name of!

Ahhh, to look that young again!

A dear friend of my, named Emilee Smith, sent me a text with this photo.  Her comment was that she picked up this magazine and immediately thought about me and sent me the picture saying, "What is Jeannine doing on the front of a magazine?"  I loved it and will take the compliment any time!

What a nice compliment, huh?  Just made me smile all over.  I almost felt as cute as Doris Day for a moment. :-)

Stake Relief Society Leadership Meeting

This Tuesday is our annual Stake RS Leadership Meeting.  The theme of our meeting is to talk about how we can counsel as a presidencies.  I have to give a short introduction to the lesson.  Here is what I've written.

I remember as a young child sitting in the living room with my mother and siblings.  My mother starts into a family topic.  Can't remember what, probably sibling rivalry or chores and how the home can't run properly without them (those were her favorite topics) and I have a comment!

I try to get it out but she just keeps right on talking.  So I wait.  And I try to interject again, but she has valid points that she wants made known to us all, so I wait, and wait, and . . . fall asleep.  I never get to say my piece.  Therefore, I don't have a buy-in.

Of course, mother had valid points on the subject, but so did I.  I wanted to have a say.  And what if I had something to add that she had not thought of?

Over the years I've been in more than a few presidencies and I've found the best presidents are not like my mother conducting a family meeting but are the ones that set the tone of a counsel, ask for feedback, clarification, full understanding and do some brainstorming.  That way the spirit is able to influence each person as they work together.

What a spiritually growing experience it has been for me to work, plan and pray with Sisters Parry, Dalhstrom and Oliphant.  We are all different ages.  We all come from different back grounds.  We all have had different life experiences and we all have different gifts and talents.

As we have met as a presidency and counseled together we have grown in love and unity.  We are edified, our testimonies strengthened and our wells filled. When we are counseling together our position in the presidency doesn't matter.  We are all one in purpose as we counsel together.

In Proverbs 15:22 and it says:  "Without counsel purposes are disappointed.  But in the multitude of counselors they are established. ........  and 20:18 says "Every purpose is established by counsel",:

Then at this point I turn the meeting over to my 1st counselor.

So what do you think?  Good?  Any suggestions?

Emmi finds Taylor!

Emmi sent me this great picture of her and Taylor.  Emmi and her friends were at the BYU football game (which I will add that the Cougars one) and she ran into Taylor, who was at the BYU game with her drill team working a concession stand to earn money.  They were both surprised to run into each other.  Cute picture of the the cousins!

A fun Saturday

I always look forward to meeting up with Lila Mae and Susan.  October 14th is Lila Mae's birthday and because my October weekends are completely full, this was the only Saturday we could get together.  We met at ShopKo in Orem where we did some looking (and very little buying) and then off to Olive Garden (Lila Mae's favorite restaurant) for a delicious lunch.  We visited about family and the challenges that come in every stage of our lives.

After a delicious lunch we headed to TJ Macks.  Susan and I went in and browsed around.  Lila decided to wait in the car.  I actually ended up buying a pair a black shoes for Sunday.  They were an expensive brand that were marked down to $39.00.  I had seen some at Nordstrom's Rack that were $80.00 so was happy for the savings.  I also bought some fun things for my visiting teaching famalies for October.

We ended the day by going to Cummings chocolates to get an ice cream cone.

It was fun to be together.  It is always a time I look forward to because we all love each other unconditionally.  A very important quality for any family!

Lynda Ann couldn't join us because she had already planned her fall mountain outing to see the leaves. She called me later that day and said that they had a wonderful time together as a family, but were a few weeks too late to gather autumn leaves.

Mt. Olympus

I was driving along 5600 and glanced up at Mt. Olympus, like I always do, and had to pull over and take a picture of this majestic mountain.  It is so incredibly beautiful.  I love living at it's foothills.

I thought of the poem that Lynda Ann wrote and gave to me years ago.  It hangs in our home. She had a picture of Mt. Timpanogos with the poem followed by a scripture:

 "I see my Father's hand everywhere I look,
  I feel my Father's spirit in everything I touch.
  I I hear my Father's voice in soft sounds of the earth.
  I have my Father's love and so each day I live.

D&C 20:17
"By these things we know that there is a God in heaven,
who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting
the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth,
and all things which are in them."

I love the gospel and I love that I know that I am a child of God and that he created this beautiful earth for me to live on and to gain a body and grow in this earthly experience.

Dallin H. Oaks said: "Consider the power of the idea taught in our beloved song "I Am a Child of God".  Here is the answer to one of life's great questions, "Who am I?"  I am a child of God with a spirit lineage to heavenly parents.  That parentage defines our eternal potential.  That powerful idea is a potent antidepressant.  It can strengthen each of us to make righteous choices and to seek the best that is within us.  Establish in the mind of a oung person the powerful idea that he or she is a child of God, and you have given self-respect and motivation to move against the problems of life."

Another project finished!

I have to admit that this is one of my favorites.  There is a lot of sentimental value tied to this cross stitch.  I remember singing this song as a little girl and it is tied strongly to Shirley Temple who performed it in one of her movies.  This, for sure, will be entered in the fair for next year.

It is at the cleaners right now getting pressed and blocked.  After it is framed, I will have these words taped to the back of the sampler: (The chorus follows each verse, but I only typed it once)

"Oh I went down South for to see my Sal
Play polly wolly doodle all the day
My Sally is a spunky gal
Play polly wolly doodle all the day
Oh my Sal she is a maiden fair
Play polly wolly doodle all the day
With laughing eyes and curly hair
Play polly wolly doodle all the day

Oh a grasshopper sittin' on a railroad track
Play polly wolly doodle all the day
A picking his teeth with a carpet tack
Play polly wolly doodle all the day
Oh I went to bed but it wasn't no use
Play polly wolly doodle all the day
My feet stretched out for a chicken roast
Play polly wolly doodle all the day

He sneezed so hard with the whoopin' cough
Play polly wolly doodle all the day
He sneezed his head an his tail right off
Play polly wolly doodle all the day

Chorus:
Fare thee well
Fare thee well
Fare thee well my fiary fey
For I'm going to Louisiana
For to see my susyanna
Play polly wolly doodle all the day.